Page 97 of The Divide that Binds Us

Chapter 20

Chain Reaction

Elite: Alice

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Isit in the infirmarynext to Evangeline’s bed, occasionally watching the news.My leg bounces as I wait for something to happen with her—anything at this point.She’s been in a deep sleep for a while with no signs of waking up.If this is because Zeala is dying, then goodness, if another dragon dies, I don’t knowifshe’ll ever wake up.

“Alice.”Master Azul pulls back the curtain and clicks her heels into the small space of Evangeline’s “room” which is just a bunch of plastic curtains creating walls in the hallways like everyone else.“You’ve been avoiding me again.Are you falling apart?”

I avert my gaze, trying to process my last memory of Nicholas.“Maybe.”

“And I gave you time and space for a week, but we need to debrief on what happened.”

No, please.I don’t want to relive that moment anymore.

I swallow hard, trying to conjure up the right words.“There’s...nothing to say.We went down there and found a weird statement in...in blood.A Guard was there, and he’s also a Spirit User.He got in Nicholas’s head, but I had enough time to escape.”I fold my hands to calm the incoming shakes.“N-Nicholas said you knew.”

Azul scratches the back of her neck where the blond baby hairs hang and refuses to stretch themselves to join the rest in her ponytail.“How do you feel?”

“Is it true that you knew?”I ask.“I need to know if you knew this would happen.”

She smiles and waits for one of the doctors to walk by her before shifting her attention back to me, eyes as icy as her office.

“It doesn’t matter what I know.What’s important is we have more information on Mildred’s operation.Nick will be fine; he knew the risks of going down there with you.”

“But I didn’t!”I jump to my feet, legs wobbling and stomach rapidly sinking into nauseating oblivion.

Azul watches me, nostrils flaring.“Alice—”

“We lost Natasha to Ultima, and lost Nicholas to afreakin’cult!We don’t know what these people will do to him,” I whisper loudly, gesturing to Evangeline.“And we’re about to lose her too if we don’t do something.Please!”

“Steel yourself; now you dare want to do something after you wasted a WEEK wallowing?”

Bings and alarms chime throughout the infirmary, including mine and Azul’s phone.I begrudgingly peel my eyes away to check my notifications from the E-Force app.Stacy must be receiving a ton of calls at the desk because she rarely pushes mass urgent alerts this much.

Ding!“URGENT REQUEST: DISTRESS CALL RECEIVED FROM QUEEN SOPHIE OF TOPAZ ISLAND RE: AN ORGANIZED ATTACK WITHIN THE PREMISES.ALL NEARBY MEMBERS LEAVE YOUR POSTS TO INVESTIGATE AND SECURE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY!”

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